Never The Same

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Following a script written for me, written for me by this world. As an adolescent, I grew up in a Christian home, in church almost every week. I had Christian values. But as an adolescent in middle school and high school, I'd be lying to you if I told you I didn't want the things that my peers were into. That I didn't want that partying, hedonistic lifestyle. It seemed like they were having a lot of fun. It seemed like they were enjoying life. I was enjoying life too, but I wanted what they were doing. I wanted to fit in. Because as I reflect on this, what I was really wrestling with is, why me? Why am I not allowed to enjoy the things that they're enjoying? It seems like there's more people having fun doing these things than are following this Christian path. So what's wrong with me that I don't get to be like them. Now thankfully God put good Christian friends and Godly

men in my life to mentor and disciple me so that I'm standing with you here today. But I did desire that now as an adult I like to think that I don't desire to sin anymore. Not that I am free of that but I try to follow Jesus in my daily life, but I do get caught up in allowing my circumstances to define me. If I don't have the things that my my friends have, if I don't have the same status or if I'm not as far in my profession, being a 30 year old intern in the church is not the typical path. Most of my peers at church are in their early 20s, so I begin to think why what's wrong with me that I'm not where I should be. Like Truman, I feel like I've been following a script. I have to have more and do more in order to be more.

My circumstances define me. And I imagine that if you're like me, that you've probably experienced similar occurrences as well. As Christians even, it's easy for us to compare ourselves to other Christians. As a counselor, I see it in my office every week. Counseling Christians who come in thinking, if only I prayed more, if only I read my Bible consistently, if only if I was in church every Sunday, then maybe I wouldn't be struggling with these issues. Maybe I'd be better off. And I've been there, even comparing ourselves to non-Christians as well. As an adolescent, I wanted nothing more than to be a, the next Chris Tomlin. I wanted to be a worship leader. I wanted to play guitar and sing and lead thousands in worship. That That was my ambition in middle school and high school. The only problem is that I don't play guitar very well, and I definitely don't sing well into a microphone at least.

If I did that, you would say my time is up. So that's not where my story took me. But I remember I have lamented over my life to God, thinking that there are people who have a great singing voice and can play their instruments really well, but they don't use those gifts to honor you. I want to do that. Why don't I have that gift? I compare myself to these people who have the things that I wish I did, and I begin to think, what's wrong with me that I'm not like them? Now, these things that we want in life, they're not necessarily bad things, especially the spiritual disciplines. These are things that we should be doing. Reading your Bible, praying every day, going to church regularly, please do those things, right? But why you're doing them matters. If we are constantly doing these things to get more, to do more, to be more, we will never reach an end. We will always be striving to reach the next goal,

to be better, to have more, and to do more. And working with clients who struggle with this and reflecting on for my own life and just speaking with friends, what I have found that this seems to be an identity issue. It comes down to what's wrong with me and who I am that I'm not where I should be or I don't have what I think I should have. And to that I would say just because we have all the necessary components of life, the spiritual disciplines, the social accolades, the personal success, just because we have all those things doesn't mean that we are actually alive. It reminds me of the prophet Ezekiel as he's prophesying over the valley of dry bones. We see that in Ezekiel 37, chapter 37, verses 7 through 10. Starting in verse 7 it says, "'So I prophesied as I was commanded. "'And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, "'a rattling sound. "'And the bones came together bone to bone.

"'I looked and the tendons and flesh appeared on them, "'and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.'" See, these bones, they're lying in a valley, and they don't resemble anything than the bones that they are, the skulls or the femurs or the collar bones or whatever they are, they're just piles of remains resembling nothing other than death. And as Ezekiel prophesies over them, they come together and they form skeletons. Now they look like something recognizable, but they are still dead. And then as he continues to prophesy, tendons and muscle and flesh and skin covers them and now they look like people. They look like beings that should have life, but they don't. So we too, we can seem like we have it all together. We can have all the things necessary for us to look alive, but nothing we gain here on earth will make us alive. That's why Ezekiel keeps going in verse 9. He says,

Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, Son of man, and say to to it, this is what the sovereign Lord says, come breath from the four winds and breathe into the slain that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them. They came to life and stood on their feet of vast army. See, it's not until these bodies receive the Holy Spirit that they come to life. And us too, even if we are Christians and we fall across and we have a Holy Spirit, we can suppress him really easily. And until we follow him and walk in him and walk by the Spirit, we are dead where we stand. No matter what we have in our life, if we don't have a Holy Spirit, it means nothing. So Jesus, when he died on the cross and rose again three days later, the world was forever changed. And when we follow him and we receive the Holy Spirit, our eyes are opened, we

We become alive and we see the world for how it's changed and we are able to see how we have changed. We experience an identity change. Once we have encountered the life-giving grace of Jesus Christ, everything changes. And when we choose to follow Him, we are never the same again. And so today I want to share with you how we can realize that we are never the same by understanding three truths about our identities in Christ. So we'll be in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 6 and 17, if you're there in your Bibles. Awesome, if not, should be on the screens. We'll read that together now. It says, So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. So three truths, truth number one, our identity used to be defined by this world.

We don't wanna pretend that our past isn't a part of our past, as though it didn't happen. We wanna recognize where we came from. I think Paul here is showing us that we started in sin. See that phrase, the worldly point of view, this is from the NIV, and that is a paraphrase of the word flesh, which is found in many other English translations of the Bible. And I think we have a general sense of what the Bible means when it talks about our flesh, this opposite of God, right? But Paul is trying to communicate a little bit deeper here. More accurately, he's saying to live according to the flesh or to live according to a worldly point of view is to have a mind that is hostile to God or to live a life that is displeasing to God. I believe Paul is speaking to our identity here. Who you once were was defined by your sin, by what you did, by what you thought. That's who you were.

But we see as we are in Christ, we are no longer defined that way. And I think it's interesting that he points out that we once saw Christ this way, or at least the audience that Paul is writing to. He was writing to a church in Corinth in the first century. And the Jews of that time would have saw Jesus as hostile because they didn't understand the life-giving grace that he was offering. And I think about us in our context today, that we can also see Jesus as hostile even if we follow him. You know, God, I know you are asking me to go forgive my coworker for what they did to me, but that would be uncomfortable. So you must not want that for me. Right? We can see what Jesus is telling us to do or what he's offering us as hostile to God if it goes according against our flesh, and it's easy to be in our flesh. We wrestle between this life and death within us, but we want to remember who we

are based on whose we are. And I always be to truth number two that our identity is now defined by Christ. Verse 17 says that we are a new creation. See Paul here is showing us an evolution from our old self into our new self, and like I said So we're not forgetting who we were, but that's not where our focus is and that's not where our identity lies. We are now a new creation. And this is because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, not by anything that we have done. By receiving God's grace through Christ's work on the cross, we are made new. No longer is your identity defined by the world or by your sin or by your flesh, but by Christ through his work on the cross. And when we follow him in that, we receive the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that in Romans 8 14 that those led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. So part of being a new creation is being adopted in to God's

family and I don't know about you but family breathes identity. For better or for worse think about your own situation. If you're trying to distance yourself from your family you don't have anything to do with them that still is influencing who you are or maybe you wear your family heritage like a badge of honor. Either way, family has a way of influencing who we are and defining us. And so we want our position, our status in God's family to define us, to be our identity. And again,

it's all based on what Christ has done. And based on what he's done, he gets to say who you are. So he's been to truth number three, that we are no longer who we once were. This is sort of a culmination of the first two truths. But Paul tells us that the old is gone and the new is here. There's that tension again. Like an echo that reverberates through our soul, we remember our old life, but it doesn't get to define us today. But this wrestling that we have to do, it can be difficult to recognize when we are walking has a new creation. And so in other areas of scripture, We are told about the fruit that we produce. Paul tells us in Galatians about the fruits of the spirit. But we wanna recognize that not all fruit is produced the same. We all produce fruit of various kinds, but we wanna know where that fruit comes from. And Jesus tells us where it should. In John 15:4 he says,

"'Remain in me as I also remain in you. "'No branch can bear fruit by itself. "'It must remain in the vine. "'Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. That remain in me is also known, is also translated as abide, where you abide. And when we abide in Christ, living as a new creation is a natural result. It's not something that we necessarily work for, but it's something that we become. It's because when we abide in Christ, a firm foundation is developed. So when we're living according to our flesh, our identity is swayed wherever our circumstances take us. But if we're abiding in Christ, then we have a firm foundation to stand on so that no matter what life throws at us, we can remain consistent in who God and who Jesus Christ says you are. And so because of this, you can never be the same again. So I want to challenge you today to identify parts of yourself that are still defined by this world, are still defined by

your sin. May I ask yourself, what areas of my life do I still allow my old self to influence who I am? And what steps do I need to take in order to realize my true identity? Who Christ says I am? Well, I have some suggestions for you. Number one, perhaps you need to confess. James 5, 16 says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. See I think it's interesting here that James is pointing out that when we confess to one another we receive healing. We know that when we confess to God we receive forgiveness. That's a vertical transaction. But when we confess to one another we receive healing which is a horizontal transaction. I think what James knows here is that when we aren't in accountability with one another, when When we're not in community with one another,

it's easy for us to revert back to who we were. But the more that we confess and we invite accountability and we invite community into our lives, it's easier to live in that new creation. It's easier to be who God has called you to be. So maybe you need to confess. Number two, perhaps you need to make adjustments in your personal life or your social life or your professional life or your spiritual life, even, to make room for the Holy Spirit. Again, where are you abiding? If it's in your family or in your job or even in your church or in doing your spiritual disciplines as a box to check off, there will always be more to achieve.

And when you don't achieve those things, the question becomes, what's wrong with me? So where are you abiding? It has to be Jesus Christ. So maybe that's an area of life to do a heart check on. And then number three, perhaps you need to seek professional help. Now I know I'm a counselor, so I'm biased. I think everybody needs counseling, just to say. But you may say that's not for me and that's fine, but what I know in working with Christians who struggle with this is that past trauma, unprocessed trauma and past hurt, unprocessed hurt can prevent you from fully realizing your new identity. that what's happened in your past, whether it's something that you did or something that happened to you, the enemy can use that to shout in your ear that you can't ever be something else. You will never be free from that thing that happened in your past. It's a stain that can't be removed.

And I wanna tell you today that is a bold-faced lie. There is therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. And we are a new creation. Christ gets to define you, not your past. But unprocessed trauma and unprocessed hurt can shackle you to your past. And I believe God put people on this earth in positions of counseling or social work or whatever it is to help people process this stuff so that they can let go of it. Again, I know I'm biased, but there's no shame in seeking that professional help.

And I wanna encourage you to consider it if you're shackled. As we wind down today, I just wanna remind you that we have encountered, when we encounter the life-giving grace of Jesus Christ, we ought to never be the same. You remember Truman? As he was about to walk through that door, the creator of the show, we see him in a control room, and he speaks over a microphone trying to convince Truman to stay. And he tells him that if you walk through that door, you're only gonna face uncertainty, fear, hurt, heartache. But if you stay here in this fictional town and you return to being Truman Burbank, then you're going to be safe, you're going to be happy, you're going to be content.

And how true is that of us as Christians? The world tells us, the script of this world tells us that you'll be happy if you follow the way of the world. There is a lot of risk and a lot of opportunity for hurt if we follow Christ. In fact, we're guaranteed it. But Truman couldn't go back to who he was. There's no way he could have returned to being Truman Burbank. And when we follow Jesus, we do wrestle with our old life, but we can't go back to not knowing. So we would do well to remember that we used to be defined by this world, but it is a part of our past, but it is no longer a part of our present. Because Christ now defines us based on what He has done for us. His righteousness covers us and we are adopted into His family. Because of that, we are no longer who we once were. We are made new and we are never the same. Imagine with me a freedom, the freedom and the peace possible from living under such

an identity. identity that creates a reality where you no longer have to earn your salvation or earn your worth or earn your value based on what the world says is valuable, worthy, and life-saving. Imagine the joy that is possible from not having to earn these things. And imagine those who will come to know Jesus Christ all because you are simply not who you once were. Let's pray. God, thank you for the truth of your word, that we can go to your word and find out who you say we are, and that we can stand on that as a firm foundation, that we don't have to be swayed by wherever the world takes us. Thank you for what you did for us on that cross, and thank you even more for rising again three days later to defeat death so that we can have a relationship with you. We love you, Jesus. That's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Justin.

For some of you, as Justin was describing, true men, you might have been thinking like, that's me. I'm on that side. Like, I haven't gone through that door. Or maybe there's a decision that the Lord is calling you to that you're kind of scared to walk through. We have a response time for that. A lot of times people need help in that response time. And so I want to encourage you as as we sing. I'm gonna be right up here. Also, Justin's gonna be up here. And if you wanna come and pray,

and if there's a decision that you wanna make, if you're thinking about joining our church, or if you wanna be baptized, you can do that during this time too. So let's stand and sing together. I need thee every hour, Most gracious Lord, No tender force like thine can peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee, and every hour I need Thee, O bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee, Dhani every hour, stay down nearby. Temptations lose their power when thou are nigh. I need thee, oh I need thee Every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee And I need every hour in joy or in pain Come quickly and abide, O life is vain. I need Thee, O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee, O bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. Guys, it was a joy to be with you today. And stick around, shake a hand, get to know somebody. That's why we have name tags. Be sure and let Justin and Raven know

that you were glad to see him today. You are dismissed.